Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts

Guest Post: Jenny M. Potts Talks About Her Journey As A Writer


Hey Bookworms! 

Today we have with us, Jenny M. Potts, who is not just a novelist, but also a screenwriter and playwright! 

Before I hand over the reins to her, let me introduce her to you in a proper, gentle(wo)manly fashion!


Jenny is a novelist, screenplay writer, and playwright. After a series of ‘proper jobs’, she realized she was living someone else’s life and escaped to Gascony to make gîtes. Knee deep in cement and pregnant, Jenny was happy. Then autism and a distracted spine surgeon wiped out the order. 

Returned to wonderful England, to write her socks off.

Jenny would like to see the Northern Lights but worries that’s the best bit and should be saved till last. Very happily, and gratefully, settled with the family. She tries not to take herself too seriously.


Now that you know more about her, let's hear from her, the story of her writing life so far!

~~~~~~

I’ve been writing since I was around nine years old. I wrote quite prolifically in those early years and it was all plays, which gave me the opportunity to star in all my dramas! I also produced and directed the plays, casting my friends in the parts. It was a very creative and happy time, when we laughed so much, it was a challenge just to stay upright. My most successful plays (ie, they were given a stage at school) were: Murder at Barrington Place (incidentally, my new neighbours are called the Barringtons… I haven’t told them about my murderous early script), A Day in the Life of a Psychiatrist and The Ghost Train

Apart from the obligatory suicidal poetry everyone creates during their teens, I did not write again seriously until I was in my late twenties. My partner and I had moved to France. We renovated properties and had a holiday business, so I had some time in the winters to, at last, turn my hand back to the pen.

I started to write poetry again and did quite well publishing my work. I remember on two occasions having vivid dreams which I wrote about immediately upon waking. Both those poems were snapped up by prominent presses of the day. One was called Realistic Woman Flavour and the other Infidelity. I have copies of everything I’ve published in Gascony where we have renovated a ruin (it took eleven years) and where I have happily sawn wood and screwed together vast lengths of bookshelving. My own publications don’t take up very much space but they’re in great company with all my favourite authors: Attwood, Zadie Smith, all the old Frenchies like Flaubert and de Maupassant, the great Russians like Kafka and Solzenitsyn, wonderful Americans like Smilie, Proulx and Auster and some dear Brits like Forster, Atkinson, Glaister.

I wrote simultaneously a great deal of short fiction and managed to publish most of that. I won some competitions and tried my hand at experimental fiction too.

Then in my early thirties, I wrote a novel called The Wine Merchant of Little Venice. I don’t think it was terribly good but I got a very encouraging letter from an editor at Virago, giving in depth analysis and advice. You would never receive a letter like that now, so I was lucky to get it. I then wrote more novels, gradually getting better and receiving encouraging letters from publishers and agents. Then I submitted Romy & Raphael to the Mslexia Novel Competition and of 1,800 novel manuscripts, I got a place in the top ten. There was an event for the winners at Waterstones on Piccadilly, with agents and publishers. Just prior to that, however, I got signed to MBA. My agent was Laura Longrigg. I remember being terrified before our first meeting, I’d waited so long for this moment.

Romy & Raphael attained the interest of Virago again, and one or two other publishers but I didn’t receive a contract. I went back to the drawing board and wrote a novel called Rooken versus Ryder which I hoped was more commercial and a genre – mystery/suspense – rather than the non genre literature I’d been doing (my own favourite to read and write). But Laura didn’t like it. I could’ve walked into the sea, I was so depressed. 

I picked myself up and wrote Piano from a 4th Storey Window. Laura loved it. Hurrah! The novel did the rounds again and though it attracted lots of praise, no-one bought it. 

Meanwhile, another publisher was interested in RvR, so I had to resign from Laura and met with the new publisher. They didn’t want to publish RvR though and suggested I go and write a real genre novel for them. I did that and it was Hiding. But the new publisher turned it down as it was too upmarket for their imprint. Aaaaaaagh.

I decided to go it alone. Got myself a great cover designer and shazam, here I am. Hiding has done well on Amazon and I’m about to publish my next thriller, Just. There will be two more thrillers this year.

I’m also working on a memoir for a famous ballet dancer. I have to meet him in Spain for our sessions. Aw, the hardship…

And I’m collaborating on a book with a friend, who also happens to be a ballet dancer. This is a triptych story with, as you’d expect, three parts, going from the early 1700s to the present day.

~~~~~~

Wow, you've sure been through a lot Jenny! And your future endeavours sound pretty interesting! Thanks for stopping at the blog and sharing your story with us!

Curious about Jenny's books? 

Here's a bit about her latest, Just:


How far would you go to save a life?

On golden Mediterranean sands, maverick doctor Scott Langbrook falls recklessly in love with his team leader, Fiyori Maziq. If only that was the extent of his falling, but Scott descends into the hellish clutches of someone much more sinister.

‘Just’ is a story of love and loss, of terror and triumph. Set in idyllic Cambridge and on the shores of the Med and Cornwall, our characters fight for their very lives on land and at sea. 

An unforgettable novel which goes to the heart of our catastrophic times, and seeks salvation.


Buy Just now:




Wait up! That's not all! We also have a giveaway! 

Win one of five eBooks of Just by Jenny M. Potts! (Open Internationally)

Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

That's all for today Bookworms! See you tomorrow!


Updates!


Hey Bookworms!

So, I've decided to try to be more scheduled in my blogging from now on. Note: I'll 'try’. So here's how things are going to be starting tomorrow.

Monday: Book Review.
Tuesday: A Guest Post.
Wednesday: Book Review.
Thursday: Interview.
Friday: Book Review.
Saturday: Book Review.
Sunday: The Writing Corner.

What's the Writing Corner, you ask? Well, that's a new addition to the blog! It'll be listed as a page on the sidebar. From now on, every Sunday, I'll be posting stuff about my writing life. I'm not a published author, and don't plan to be for the next few years, but I'm going to use that space as a sort of writing journal. I'll share my writing progress as well as any other tidbits related to it! I hope it'll be a nice addition to the blog! I figured that since this blog is my 'Book Bubble’, there should definitely be a corner dedicated to my books. So here it is!

Presenting, My Writing Corner!!

Okay, don't open the link because the page is blank and will stay so till the Sunday after the next one (Because I've a blog tour scheduled for the next Sunday).

That's it for today! 😊

Hope you'll like this new addition!

Keep reading!
Anky.

Guest Post: Turning Your Kids Into Bookworms


Hey Bookworms! 

Today, we have a very special guest with us! Megan from Ginger Mom and The Kindle Quest has some fun things to share with us! I love her blog, and I'd definitely recommend you to go give it a visit! I promise you, you'll be hooked. 

Without further ado, I'll hand over the reins to Megan, and sit back and enjoy the ride she takes us into!




My child is too active. She doesn't sit still long enough to read. What's the big deal? It's only reading. Don't they cover that stuff in school? Why do I need to read to him at home?

I talk about books with everyone. Moms, dads, friends, teachers. Anyone. Even coworkers or friends who never really found the love of reading. And when you talk to a parent about reading to their child, many times there are reasons why they don't do it. Justifications for why it just isn't at the top of their priorities.

And I get it. As a mom, I understand. Life is hectic. Kids don't sit still. And in the grand scheme of things, is reading to your child before (or outside of) school really that important? Yes, I believe it is.

So how do you instill a love of reading into that child who just won't sit still? That's where I come in! Lady Quinn and Mister Chu (my little ones who possess an unlimited supply of energy, it seems) do not sit still very often. But when a new book comes in the mail or Mom downloads a new book on her iPad or Kindle, their eyes get just as wide with excitement as . . . well, as mine do! They look forward to reading.

How?

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Audiobooks. Oh yes, these are a mom's best friend if you want your child to read but can't get them to sit still long enough to finish a book. If you have an Amazon account, you automatically have an Audible account. I found Curious George Rides a Bike on Audible for less than two dollars. It's an eleven minute book. We can finish it in the car on our way to the babysitter's each day. Easy peasy. The handy little app on my phone makes it so that the kids can listen while they look at the pictures!

Skybrary. What is this? It's an amazing creation of LeVar Burton Kids that brings the best parts of Reading Rainbow to the kids of today.

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The best part of this app? The books are narrated, just like when I watched them on Reading Rainbow as a kid. And there are mini video adventures starring LeVar, himself. As a parent, you can even track your child's reading progress in the app! (We aren't quite to that stage of reading yet but soon, it will be useful!) There are already hundreds of books available and it's expanding everyday! For the tech-savy toddler, this is definitely the way to go!

Reading Rainbow / Bookaboo. On that same note, if your child is a television addict, there are shows that will open them up to the world of reading. I already mentioned Reading Rainbow (for the 80s babies like me, this was a staple in our daily life!) But it seems 2018 has its own version of this. Bookaboo. Actors and actresses (like Selma Blair and Molly Parker) read picture books with an adorable little "rock puppy".

Just read. Last, but definitely not least - just read. If your kid wants to play, sit in the same room with them and read. Let them keep playing. They don't have to be motionless on the couch next to you in order to absorb anything. Find something interesting in the book? Talk about it. My kids love to discuss books when we're done. Who was their favorite character? Why was George being naughty? The simplest questions change forcing your child to read into an adventure!

Of course, what it always comes down to is how the parent feels about reading. If it's not important to them, the odds are pretty good that it won't be important to their children. But reading is important. It's where our children get their vocabulary. Where they learn to speak and use their imaginations. It's one of the places kids get their dreams of becoming astronauts and doctors and actresses. And it's where they realize they can be anything and do anything they set their minds to.

But, as LeVar says, "you don't have to take my word for it".

Looking for some KidLit suggestions? Or have some of your own? Link them up to the Children's Books Tuesday linky!

Children's Books Tuesday Link-Up.



Thank you for all those awesome tips Megan! I especially love the audiobooks idea! Thank you for taking time out of your busy (and kinda disarrayed 😜) schedule to visit my blog! 

I'm hoping to host a guest post every Tuesday, but knowing me, I'll probably mess up! 

Hope that doesn't happen! 

-Anky. 









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